Texas A&M vs. Auburn

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, January 9. THE No. 6 Texas A&M women's swimming and diving team lived up to its ranking with a double dual sweep of No. 8 Auburn and No. 19 SMU on Saturday at the TAMU Student Recreation Natatorium. The Aggies beat the Tigers, 169-129, and defeated the Mustangs, 172-110.

The Aggies won 11 events with senior Olympian Julia Wilkinson leading the way with three individual wins. A&M also received a pair of wins from true freshman Maureen McLaine and senior Alia Atkinson, and single wins from senior Kristin Heiss, sophomore Rita Medrano and senior Emily Neal. Wilkinson and Atkinson also helped the Aggies to a win in the 200-yard medley relay.

"Looking at this meet before, I figured it was going to be up for grabs because there was no event that we absolutely were going to win and no event where they were absolutely going to win," Aggie head swimming coach Steve Bultman said. "Sometimes you get the snowball effect. Thankfully the first couple of races went really well for us and it kind of snowballed. We got more confidence and believed that we could do it. I was very pleased. The girls did a great job."

Wilkinson posted strong victories in the 100 backstroke (53.67), 100 freestyle (49.24) and 200 IM (1:59.42), all of which are NCAA "B" cut times. She also turned in a 25.06 backstroke split on the Aggies' victorious medley relay, which staked A&M to a commanding lead.

"She's been training very well the last few days," Bultman. "Her backstroke looks very good. When she leads off the medley relay in 25.0, that's big for us."

McLaine continued the strong start to her A&M career with victories in the 500 free (4:50.94) and 1,650 free (16:31.11). She was closely trailed in both races by fellow freshman Liz Nelson, who logged second in both races.

Atkinson swept her specialty with victories in the 100 breast (1:01.98) and the 200 breast (2:13.41). Atkinson showed her fitness in the 200 breast by making up a 1.62-second deficit after the first 100 and then posting a 1.39-second victory.

Heiss took the victory in the 200 free with a time of 1:48.23, Medrano struck gold in the 200 butterfly in 1:59.03 and Neal won the 200 backstroke in 1:59.20.

The 200 medley relay team of Wilkinson, Atkinson, freshman Kendra Chernoff and junior Maria Sommer edged Auburn at the wall for the win.

For the men, the No. 22 Texas A&M men's swimming and diving team dropped a 159-136 dual meet decision to the defending NCAA Champion Auburn Tigers on Saturday at the TAMU Student Recreation Natatorium.

"We do so much stuff in workouts and we do some much volume in training, and this is the fun stuff, the racing," Aggie head swimming coach Jay Holmes said. "We had the opportunity to swim against a great program, the defending NCAA Champions. We challenged our guys and said this is an opportunity, don't let this pass. We had some really, really good swims, and some places where we need to get better. I thought our guys got up and fought well. We had some times that I was real pleased with. We have LSU in two weeks and we know the things we need to get better on."

The Aggies scored four first-place finishes against the fifth-ranked Tigers, which included a breakout two-victory performance from true freshman Omar Enriquez. The Aggies also received victories from junior Balazs Makany and sophomore diver Grant Nel.

Enriquez was dominant in the 1,650 freestyle, as he flirted with the 1,000-yard record and the 1,650 record in a winning time of 15:33.84. He then rallied to a victory in the 200 butterfly by covering the final 50 yards in 28.47 for a winning time of 1:50.56. The freshman also turned in a second-place finish in the 500 free in 4:29.92.

"When we recruited Omar we thought he was going to be this way, but you never know until they get here how they're going to fit into your program," Holmes said. "I never have to worry about his effort level. He comes into our practices and he wins things in our practices all the time. He doesn't slack off. He doesn't try to save for the next one, it's pretty much all out. They are some detail things that he doesn't do well, and that's what we're working on with him. He loves to race. That's the great part of Omar."

Makany took gold in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:38.69 and also had a runner-up finish in the 100 free in 44.94.

Nel was impressive in the diving well with his victory in the 3m springboard with a score of 428.40 and a runner-up finish on the 1m board with a score of 299.93. His victory in the 3m was particularly impressive because he defeated Auburn's Kelly Marx, who was the NCAA runner-up last season on the 3m, in the process.

The Aggies also received runner-up finishes from senior Nikita Denisyako in the 200 IM (1:52.53) and 200 back (1:49.30), junior Bryan Snowden in the 200 breast (2:02.08), and senior Jason Bergstrom in the 100 back (49.55).

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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